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Demetrious Johnson (fighter)

Demetrious Khrisna Johnson[3] (born August 13, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first ever and the current Flyweight Champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He currently holds the longest active championship reign at ten title defenses. He is also the #1 ranked pound for pound MMA fighter in the world. Known for his quick striking and elusive movement, Johnson has also landed the most takedowns in UFC Flyweight history and holds the record for the latest finish in UFC history with a submission win at 4:59 of the fifth round against Kyoji Horiguchi. He is also the only UFC fighter to record over 10 takedowns in three different fights.[4]

ESPN.com, MMA Weekly, and various UFC personnel have called Johnson one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the world.[5][6][7] As of September 2017, he is #1 in official UFC pound-for-pound rankings.[8]Sherdog ranks Johnson as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts and as the #1 flyweight.[9][10]

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Born in Kentucky, Johnson grew up in Parkland, Washington where he attended Washington High School with and was a stand-out athlete in track, wrestling, and cross country. In wrestling, he placed 3rd and 2nd in state in his junior and senior years. Although he participated in track and cross country to improve his cardio for wrestling, he competed at the State Championships in both sports as well.[11][12]

Johnson began his career in mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2007 and won his professional debut via first-round knockout. Johnson then appeared on multiple local shows and won his next 8 fights, including five in a row by submission. Johnson fought at the Alaska Fighting Championships in Anchorage and won via head kick KO, which earned him a deal with the WEC.[12]

He made his World Extreme Cagefighting debut at bantamweight against Brad Pickett on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48 in Sacramento, California.[13] Johnson showed good kickboxing throughout, but was unable to defend the many takedowns executed by Pickett. Johnson lost via unanimous decision. Joe Rogan predicted during the fight that, should the WEC implement a flyweight division, Johnson would be highly effective, as he was a relatively small bantamweight.

Johnson was expected to face Clint Godfrey on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51.[14] However, Godfrey was forced off the card and replaced by WEC newcomer Nick Pace.[15] Johnson defeated Pace via unanimous decision, to hand Pace his first ever MMA loss.

Johnson defeated Damacio Page via third round submission on November 11, 2010 at WEC 52.[16] After Page controlled the action in the first round, Johnson was able to dictate the action for most of the second and third rounds before submitting the visibly tired Page via guillotine choke. Johnson later said, "He was basically drowning, and I was the shark that came up and got him from underneath."[17]

Johnson was scheduled to face Renan Barão on May 28, 2011 at UFC 130.[20] However, Johnson faced Miguel Torres after Torres' opponent, Brad Pickett was forced off the card with an injury.[21] Despite breaking his fibula early in the second round from a checked leg kick, Johnson used his superior wrestling to control Torres and won a 29-28 unanimous decision victory, even though he was swept into full mount a record breaking 6 times during the fight.[22]

Johnson was briefly linked to a bout with Eddie Wineland on January 28, 2012 at the UFC's second event on Fox.[24] However, Johnson was pulled from the bout to take part in a four-man flyweight tournament to determine the UFC's first UFC Flyweight Champion.

Johnson faced Ian McCall on March 3, 2012 in the first round of the Flyweight Tournament at UFC on FX 2. This fight was the first flyweight bout in UFC history.[25] The fight with McCall went all three rounds, was turned over to the judges' score cards and announced as a majority decision win for Johnson. Later, in the post fight press conference, UFC president Dana White announced that the athletic commission made a mistake when scoring the match and that officially the bout was ultimately scored a majority draw (28-28, 29-29, 29-28).[26][27]

A rematch with McCall took place on June 8, 2012 at UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall. Johnson won the fight via unanimous decision to progress to the final round of the tournament.[28]

Johnson faced Joseph Benavidez in the finals of the UFC Flyweight Tournament on September 22, 2012 at UFC 152. Johnson defeated Benavidez in a close and fast-paced fight via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) to become the inaugural UFC Flyweight Champion.[29]

Johnson fought John Dodson on January 26, 2013 at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson.[30] Dodson managed to match Johnson's speed and also dropped him twice with left hands, but as the fight went on the champion took control and almost finished Dodson in the last seconds of the fifth round. Johnson eventually won the fight via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 48-47) in a bout that earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.[31][32]

Johnson was expected to face John Moraga on April 13, 2013 at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale. However, Johnson was forced out of the bout with an injury and Moraga was pulled from the event as well.[33] The bout with Moraga eventually took place on July 27, 2013 at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga, where Johnson was looking to defend his title for a second time. Johnson dominated the fight for nearly all five rounds and despite being ahead on the scorecards, he continued to work for the finish and eventually won via an armbar submission late in the fifth round. The win also earned Johnson his first Submission of the Night bonus award.[34]

A rematch with Joseph Benavidez was expected for November 30, 2013 at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale.[35] However, the bout was shifted to December 14, 2013 at UFC on Fox 9 after that event's headliner was postponed due to injury.[36] Johnson won the rematch in emphatic fashion via knockout in the first round, becoming the first person to stop Benavidez. The win also earned Johnson his first Knockout of the Night bonus award.[37] Johnson faced Ali Bagautinov on June 14, 2014 at UFC 174. He successfully defended his title for a fourth time, winning by unanimous decision.[38] Subsequent to his win, on July 10, the British Columbia Athletic Commission (BCAC) announced that Bagautinov tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) prior to the title fight. In response, the BCAC suspended Bagautinov from mixed martial arts competition for one year.[39]

A bout with Chris Cariaso was expected on August 30, 2014 at UFC 177. However, the bout was shifted to September 27, 2014 at UFC 178 after that event's headliner was cancelled due to injury.[40] Johnson won the fight via submission due to a kimura in the second round.[41] This marked Johnson's fifth title defense and the first time that a kimura was used to end a fight in a UFC championship title bout. Johnson faced Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186, winning the one-sided fight via an armbar submission at 4:59 of the fifth round, resulting in the latest finish in UFC history.[42] This win also secured Johnson a Performance of the Night bonus award.[43]

A rematch with John Dodson took place on September 5, 2015 at UFC 191. In a largely one-sided affair, Johnson won the fight via unanimous decision.[44] Johnson faced Olympic Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo on April 23, 2016 at UFC 197.[45] He won the fight via TKO in the first round after dropping Cejudo with a variety of strikes.[46] The win earned Johnson his second Performance of the Night bonus.[47] Johnson next faced Tim Elliott on December 3, 2016 at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale.[48][49] Despite being a heavy favorite, Johnson was taken down for the first time in Flyweight and nearly submitted with a d'arce choke in the first round. He went on to win the remaining rounds, and defended the Championship via a decisive unanimous decision.[50]

Johnson faced Wilson Reis on April 15, 2017 at UFC on Fox 24 to pad record. He won by armbar submission in the third round and subsequently received a Performance of the Night bonus.[51][52] With the win, Johnson tied Anderson Silva for most consecutive title defenses (ten) in UFC history.

Johnson was briefly linked to an August 2017 fight with T.J. Dillashaw.[54] However, the fight never materialized for various reasons.[55]

Johnson was scheduled to face Ray Borg on September 9, 2017, at UFC 215.[56] In turn, the fight was canceled a day before the event, as Borg was forced to withdraw from the fight on Thursday evening due to illness. According to multiple sources, Borg has been battling an illness this week and was deemed unfit to fight by UFC doctors.[57] The bout was quickly rescheduled and is expected to take place the following month at UFC 216.[58]

Known as one of the fastest fighters in MMA,[59] Johnson is recognized for quick striking and elusive movement.[6] He is noted for his ability to land fast punches and kicks to the head or body, then quickly escape an opponent's reach.[60] He is also known for his ability to counterstrike while standing within the pocket.[61]

In addition to striking, Johnson is trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as demonstrated by his kimura submission of Chris Cariaso, and his final-second victory by armbar against Kyoji Horiguchi.[6] During clinches, Johnson has also utilized the Muay Thai plum while mixing in a series of elbows and knees.[62]

In 2015, UFC commentator Joe Rogan, UFC president Dana White, ESPN.com, and other media outlets called Johnson the greatest mixed martial artist in the world.[5][6][7]

Johnson had a harsh childhood; born two months premature, he was raised by his deaf mother and an abusive stepfather. Johnson has never met his biological father, "I've never seen a picture of him, not a glimpse, nothing." The main thing that has helped him move on from his past is his wife, Destiny Johnson. He says "she is the best thing that has ever happened to me and without her, life would be incomplete." They were wed May 11, 2012, in Hawaii. They have two sons: Tyren born in 2013, and Maverick born April 15, 2015.[63][64] Johnson is an avid gamer and frequently streams games and interacts with fans on the popular streaming platform Twitch.tv, using the username Mightymouseufc125.